Weather News

International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies

Maryam Al-Ansari, Sunday September 8, 2024 - 16:17 AEST

Nothing beats waking up in the morning, going outside and being met with a breath of fresh air and a beautiful blue sky overhead. A privilege that many of us here in Australia have most mornings. Unfortunately, this is not the norm for most of the world.

Mornings in New York City are known to welcome onlookers with smog; a smoky looking and smelling fog which lingers in the air of the concrete jungle, usually generated by traffic, chimneys or chemical reactions that occur in the air. Other industrial countries like China and India also experience a lingering haze from smoke and air pollution when winds are light.

Fig. 1) Photo of smog in New York City, USA (iStock)

Fig. 2) Photo of air pollution in New Delhi, India (iStock)

On the other hand, countries with or surrounded by deserts have loose dust floating about, with visibility reducing significantly when a dust storm passes by. Other natural factors can contribute to reduced air quality as well, such as volcanic eruptions pushing ash as high up as the stratosphere (about 50km above the surface) or bush fires.

Fig. 3) Photo of dust in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (iStock)

On the 7th of September, the world celebrates the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies. This is an initiative by the UN to increase awareness about air pollution and its effects on both human health and the environment in the long run and a day-to-day basis.

As the UN states, “air pollution is the single greatest environmental risk to human health,” with an estimated 6.5 million premature deaths across the world (estimates include outdoor and indoor air pollution), disproportionately affecting children, women and the elderly. Not only that, but air pollution also impacts agriculture, reducing productivity, and therefore has an overall negative impact on economy.

Air pollutants are gases or airborne particles that reach a harmful concentration. This means that natural gases and aerosols can be considered pollutants if they result in serious harm or risk. As stated earlier, the production of these gases or aerosols (airborne particles) can be due to natural phenomena or human activity. But due to the lifetime of the gases or aerosols in the atmosphere, these can have long-lasting repercussions even after the cause has been mitigated.

An example that we see now are the concentrations of carbon-monoxide, due to smoke, over the Amazon basin after the August droughts and fires. Even into the second week of September, concentrations of carbon monoxide are still well above 4000 ppbv (parts per billion by volume) over areas of Bolivia, Paraguay and west Brazil. The WHO (World Health Organisation) suggests that the acceptable level of carbon monoxide is 9,000 to 10,000 ppb for a maximum of 8 hours (note that these levels are for indoor spaces and so do not consider volume, whereas outdoor readings are measured as a unit of volume). People are continuing to suffer from shortness of breath, nasal congestion, and irritation of the nose, throat and eyes a result of the lingering smoke of these fires.

Although there is little to do to alleviate the impacts of air pollution after the fact, we can reduce the possibility of air pollution production by reducing (1) the burning of fuels which produce harmful by-products and (2) the release of underground stores of harmful gases like black carbon, methane and ground-level ozone as we dig up Earth’s underground resources.

From all the way down under, we can help others wake up to a nice breath of fresh air.

Here is more information about the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies or the planned efforts to reduce air pollution by 2030.

- Weatherzone

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